Cannabis is a plant material containing many useful compounds and components such as cannabinoids, terpenes, and flavonoids. Cannabis and extracts prepared from cannabis containing these various components have utility in medicinal cannabis treatment therapies.
Particularly notable are the cannabinoids tetrahydrocannabinolic acid (THCA), Δ8 tetrahydrocannabinolic acid (Δ8 THCA), Δ9 tetrahydrocannabinolic acid (Δ9 THCA), tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), Δ8 tetrahydrocannabinol (Δ8 THC), Δ9 tetrahydrocannabinol (Δ9 THC), cannabidiolic acid (CBDA), cannabidiol (CBD), cannabinol (CBN), cannabigerolic acid (CBGA), cannabigerol (CBG), cannabigerolic acid (CBCA), cannabichromene (CBC), and tetrahydrocannabivarin (THCV).
In addition to these major cannabinoids, terpenes typically found in cannabis include: trans-nerolidol, terpinolene, terpineol, saniene hydrate, L-fenchone, guaiol, geraniol, y-terpinene, b-pinene, a-terpinene, a-humulene, a-cedrene, a-Pinene, R-Limonene, S-Camphor, fenchyl alcohol, R-camphor, −/+borneol, +pulegone, valencene, trans-caryophyllene, p-mentha 1,5-diene, ocimene, nerol, linalool, isoborneol, hexahydrothymol, geranyl acetate, farnesene, eucalyptol, cis-nerolidol, camphor, camphene, b-myrcene, carene, -isopulegol, caryophyllene oxide, a-bisabolol, +fenchone, and +cedrol.
Flavonoids typically found in cannabis include quercetin, luteolin, kaempferol, cannaflavin A, and apigenin.
Other components present in cannabis plant material may include flavins, chlorophyll A, and chlorophyll B.
Isolation, concentration, or purification of the cannabinoids, terpenes, flavonoids, and/or other phytoconstituents present in cannabis may be necessary in order to observe or amplify the medicinal benefit of the respective component.
Current practices regarding preparation of cannabinoid products containing these components typically include subjecting the raw plant material to an extracting solvent such as ethanol to produce a bulk extract. The solvent is then removed via open evaporation, reduced pressure, or by flowing a gas stream over the surface of the bulk extract, sometimes at an elevated temperature. Issues arising from these practices include poor scalability, long processing times, destruction/evaporation of the more volatile desirable components, and difficulty in isolating or concentrating specific components.
There remains a need for a process for producing a concentrated cannabinoid product from cannabis extracts of varying purity or raw cannabis plant material. The present invention provides a process for producing a concentrated cannabinoid product using a unique adsorption and filtration system whereby a highly concentrated cannabinoid product is obtained while maintaining an amount of more volatile components present in the raw plant material, such as volatile terpenes.